Second Chances
by Kellie Parker
Summary: Four years after a terminated relationship, Claire Lyons finds herself in her final year of university, with two of her exes, a lifelong enemy and finals to study for. How will she cope? Rated K :) CLARINGTON! (P.S. The chapter names are just names of songs; nothing to do with the story that much)
1. The Way

**ʢʡ Prologue ʢʡ**

Derrick Harrington impatiently tapped the chair he was sitting on at Starbucks. His girlfriend, Claire Lyons, was an hour late. This was supposed to be their first date in about two months. She was so busy with her programming stuff, and she didn't seem to have time for him. He checked his watch again; annoyed that time had barely passed. The minute hand was still where it was the last time he checked it, which had been a few seconds ago. He was about to give up when a blonde head whizzed through the crowd and arrived at his table.

"Sorry I'm late," she panted. "The professor kept me late to ask me about something."

"You could have texted me or something."

"My phone was in my locker – my bad – and what the professor said was really interesting, I couldn't pass it up."

"So, your studies are more important than I am to you?" he asked in a half-joking tone.

"I didn't say that…"

"You certainly imposed it. And I'm sure that's surely what you were thinking as you were listening to the professor." He said the word like it left a sour taste in his mouth.

"No, that's absolutely _not _what I was thinking," she snapped back. "I was just thinking about how his explanation went really well with the example."

"Oh, so I didn't cross your mind at all?"

"Not exactly…"

"I've been sitting here for over an hour. The least you could have done was to think of me. Just a thought. Is that too much to ask?"

"You aren't in my mind! And I didn't say no, I said not exactly."

"They virtually mean the same thing!"

"No, they don't, and…"

The people sitting next to them cut her short. They looked agitated. "Could you two _lovebirds_," one of them said, dripping sarcasm, "take your couples' bickering to another table or zip it?"

"Sorry about that," Derrick apologized. He sat down, realizing that in the heat of the moment, he had stood up. Claire nodded and sat down too.

"At least I can _apologize_," Derrick said to the people next to them, every word directed to Claire.

"Well, ex-cuse me if I just want to hear an explanation of what I learned in class today." She narrowed her eyes.

Derrick shook his head and turned so that he was facing the people next to him. "How would you feel," he said to the three men at the table, "if your girlfriend was an hour late for a date and she didn't even bother to call or text because she claimed she left her phone in her locker?"

"I'd probably leave it at that," the man nearest to Derrick said. "If she said she left it in her locker, she left it in her locker. I'd have to give her the benefit of the doubt. What's a relationship without trust?"

"Yeah," the second man echoed. "If you know you can't trust her, why date her at all?"

"I totally agree," said the third man. "Trust is the basic foundation for a relationship. If you have no trust, then… I don't think your relationship would be the best."

Derrick stared at them in disbelief while Claire looked at him with a smug _Ha! _look on her face. He obviously hadn't expected them to take Claire's side. What happened to bros before h**s? Huh? What happened to the good old days? However, it wasn't like he actually knew them personally. They were just Starbucks' neighbours. These neighbours virtually changed every day.

"And, how would you feel," Claire directed to the three women, "if you were late, and you had a genuine reason you didn't notify your boyfriend, but he didn't believe you? And he gets angry because you didn't think of him even though he's been sitting at a place for an hour waiting for you?"

"For one," began the first person that had talked to them, "I'd never lock my phone in my locker," she said in accordance to Derrick's earlier statement, "unless I was trying to avoid someone or something. The locker is too unsafe to keep something like a phone in it. I probably would have given it to the nurse or guidance counsellor to keep for me."

"I have to agree with her," the second woman said. "I'd _never _leave my phone in my locker unless I wanted to hide from doing something on it, like texting or calling someone."

Even before the third woman began speaking, Derrick looked at Claire with a pointed look on his face. The look said, _I've caught you_. The third woman began talking. "I don't think that I would ever leave a phone in my locker," she said, agreeing with the second point. "That being said, I probably would have done all the things I needed to do on it first, including calling my boyfriend and telling him why I'd be late."

Derrick reached over the table and high-fived each of the girls, before turning back to Claire. "Did you hear that?" he asked. "I'd only put it in my locker if I wanted to avoid something or somebody. Were you trying to avoid me?"

"No, Derrick, I wasn't trying to avoid you. It just never crossed my mind at all. Besides, didn't youhear? The benefit of the doubt."

"You'd only be asking for that if you knew you've done something wrong. C'mon, Claire Bear," he said, "were you trying to avoid me?"

"No, I _wasn't _trying to avoid you! Why can't you just leave it at that? I wasn't trying to avoid you and I'm not going to have this argument with you over this."

"Is it because you're scared?" he taunted. "Because you're scared that I might find out that you're trying to avoid me because you've done something wrong?"

"The best way to find out something about us women is to check our bags," the first lady said to Derrick. "If there's something in there we want to hide, then we wouldn't bring our bags." She motioned to the fact that Claire was wearing a messenger bag, instead of carrying a purse or something.

"Technically, I'm not a woman," Claire said, getting a tad annoyed. "I'm in high school… pre-college."

"So?" the second woman asked. "You're past sixteen, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then you're virtually a woman," the third woman added. "Just so we don't get confused, I'm Marianna, she's Myka," she said, motioning to the first woman, "and she's Melissa. We're triplets. Sort of, anyway."

"I'm Brandon," the first guy said, eager to get his two cents in, "and these are Jordan and Michael."

"I'm Derrick," Derrick said, "and this my… _girlfriend _Claire."

"No wonder you guys are fighting," Myka said.

"Don't worry, it'll pass," Brandon said. He checked his watch. "Alright, we have to go. I guess we'll see you around or something."

The six of them stood up and the women grabbed their phones. "We'll exchange numbers," Melissa said, "in case you guys need to talk about this."

After swapping numbers, they left Claire and Derrick sitting in an uncomfortable silence.

"You heard him," Claire said quietly. "A relationship is nothing without trust. Why don't you just trust me?"

"I don't know, Claire." He ran his fingers through his hair in the manner that Claire loved so. "Things have changed. We head off to college next year or so… I'm not even sure if we'll get the same college, what with you doing your programming and me my accounting. I… I don't know anymore." He looked at his iPhone time. "I have to go; my mom wants me to run some errands for her. I really thought that we could reconnect."

Derrick stood up and brushed his shorts. "If you want to eat or drink something, here you go." He handed her a few crisp bills. "Bye, Claire."

He exited the shop, leaving Claire to sit there all alone.

* * *

***a few days later***

Claire's iPhone buzzed. It was an iMessage. She checked it, gasped and nearly fainted. It couldn't be so, but, there it was…

**From: Derrick**

**Claire, I think we should take a break**

* * *

What did you think? Thanks and props go to **splendeur,** who came up with this _ah-mazing_ plot :) without her, I wouldn't have this story :D

_Amor,_

Kellie.

_'I got a bad boy, I must admit it. You got my heart, don't know how you did it. And I don't care who sees it, babe, I don't wanna hide the way I feel when you're next to me.'_


	2. Safe and Sound

**Hallo. Don't hate me - I'm so sorry. I have to study... I write finals (sort of) June 25th. Oh, and did you know May 25th (today) is AU Day? HAPPY AU DAY! (I apologize... there was no time to beta)**

* * *

**ʢʡ 1 ʢʡ**

**First Semester**

Claire tucked a loose strand of her behind her ear as she squinted at the textbook in front of her, seeing if she could decode the programming sequence example on the right page. Her Mac, with both _Java _and _Python _running in the background, sat precariously on the edge of her dorm table in the room she shared with her dorm mate, Kristen Gregory. Kristen was a sports student on a scholarship, meaning she had to work twice as hard. One slipped grade and she was dropped from the team. Another slipped grade and she was kicked from the school. She was one of the smartest students in school.

The door opened and in walked Kristen, dumping her messenger bag on the bed and collapsing on top of it. "Honey, I'm home," she called half-heartedly.

"Hey." Claire giggled. "Rough day on the field, huh?"

"_Such _a rough day. You know, we have our championship in a week or so, and Coach is grilling us more than usual. Such an as-" She paused as she remembered that Claire had an aversion to hearing, saying and reading swear words.

"Sorry Kris."

"No problem. Um, I got this in the student mail for you. It's from some guy named Derrick or something." She tossed an envelope neatly on top of Claire's textbooks and went to take her shower for the school meeting that night.

Claire's hands trembled as she reached over her close-to-death Mac and took the envelope from where it sat atop her textbooks. Scolding herself, she used the envelope slitter to open the envelope, and she took out a clean white sheet of paper. On it was writing – no, calligraphy – and it read:

_'Dear Claire,_

_How have you been? I have been meaning to send this to you for a while, but I never got the chance until now. My dean transferred me to your uni; isn't that great? I've wanted to meet up with you for so long, but it kept slipping my mind. I guess I'll see you when I arrive in a weeks' time._

_Yours truly,_

_Derrick.'_

Yours truly? Did he travel to London for the rest of his studies or what? Claire checked the postage date: a week ago. Great. Derrick was coming back possibly tonight or tomorrow, and after that impromptu break-up five years ago, she had nothing to say to him.

Kristen came out of the shower looking much more refreshed than she had when she first walked into the room. Her dirty – and somewhat smelly – jersey had been exchanged for a pair of comfortable True Religion jeans tucked into brown Uggs with a yellow off-the-shoulder jersey top.

"What's wrong?" she asked, rushing over to Claire and pulling up a chair. "You seem pale. Is it because of the Derrick guy?"

"Yes and no." Kristen and Claire were best friends, but Kristen didn't know about Claire's love life. Except the fact that most guys at the school were chasing Claire, but she kept brushing them off. One Valentine's day, Claire alone managed to get forty valentines – more than anyone had ever received in the history of the school. "Derrick was my boyfriend… He broke up with me and now he's coming to visit. He says that he's been meaning to meet up with me."

Kristen fake gagged, causing Claire to laugh along with her. "Seriously? What a guy. I wonder what he looks like. Is he hot?"

"Yeah, he is." Claire giggled.

"We have to go now, though. Dean and his meeting tonight."

Claire stood up and straightened out her knee-length dress, nearly murdering her Mac – which made Kristen laugh even more. After stashing the letter somewhere in the drawers and carefully putting the Mac away, she was ready. She and Kristen linked arms, skipped down the hallway, and went out onto the green, lush grass. They made their way to the Quad, where they had most meetings. The sun was beginning to set, so everything looked yellow orange. Claire supposed it was a back-to-school meeting since they hadn't had one when school actually reopened, which was a week ago.

Almost everyone was at the Quad by the time they got there. Claire and Kristen took their rightful places at the back as seniors, with a few guys trying to get Claire's attention.

"Girl, you're on fire," Kristen commented, a serious look on her face. "When will you actually give one of these guys the time of day?"

Claire giggled again. _This girl is on fire_. "I don't know, Kris. I guess when one of them will actually be my knight in shining armour."

"Good evening students," the Dean began.

"Good evening," someone burped. Laughter rippled through the crowd as the owner of the burp, the infamous Dylan Marvil, stood, took a bow and sat back down.

"Welcome back. As you have probably seen, we have some new faces this year." About 20 different people got up, introducing themselves. Claire rather nodded off, but she sat upright once she heard that familiar name. _Derrick Harrington_.

"Is that the guy who sent the letter?" Kristen asked. "He's hot."

As Derrick sat back down, Claire noticed him sitting beside a brunette with amber eyes. The same brunette who had haunted her dreams for the past five years. How could she have missed her in school? Right, as a programming senior, she was entitled to her own special classroom with a laptop, programming sequences to decode and no teacher. _Massie Block_. Claire felt a familiar twinge of jealousy as she saw her flirt with Derrick, but she shrugged it off and waited for the final new student.

He came in through the doors from the Quad in the office, and the place was so silent, you could have heard a pin drop. No one could believe it, but it was true. Standing before them was _the _Cam Fisher, alumnus Harrison Fisher's younger brother. There were so many stories about him being the _it _kid, and about him possibly being the 'baddest' guy around. People always wondered where he would be for final year; it never occurred to them that he would choose Stanford. Claire, however, smacked her forehead. Two of her exes, her lifelong nemesis and finals to study for in the same place. Awesome! Not.

"Another guy?" Kristen asked sympathetically.

"Yep," Claire replied, popping the _p_.

Looking for a familiar face, he spotted Claire and went to sit beside her. Claire felt all eyes on her as Cam sat beside her. Most of the glares were envious, because everyone knew Cam. Everyone wanted to be Cam. Everyone _wanted _Cam. Even the freshman newbies knew about him and the tales Harrison used to tell when he was in the school. Claire remembered the tales – she had been in sophomore year at the time. He was dashing, amazing, charming, without fault – that was what made Claire date him for a year – but she didn't want to make the same mistake again. Why was she being haunted? What did Fate have against her?

"Hey, Claire," Cam said, winking at a brunette behind them who might have fainted if it wasn't for her friend holding her up.

"Hello." She averted her eyes and paid more attention to Dean.

"Coach Turner wants all the sports students, and I mean all of them, to meet him and their respected coaches on the field after this."

"No," Kristen groaned. "I don't want to fu—fricking go back to _that _prick."

Claire winced. "Kristen."

"We can come with you," Cam suggested. "Isn't that right, Claire?"

"Fine." She rolled her eyes as he threw his arm over her, and then proceeded to shrug away from it.

"This is going to be the best session EVER!"

"Yeah," Claire murmured half-heartedly. About two hours or so sitting with Cam? Perfect.

* * *

There we go. Thanks to **keep calm and sparkle**, **AleAmaroBTR**, **ailes du neige**, **splendeur**, **FanFicFanticGurl** and **Glittering Moonlight** for reviewing. The reviews make my day!

_Amor,_

Kellie.

_'Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound.'_


	3. All You Ever

**ʢʡ 2 ʢʡ**

Oh, the _joy_ of sitting next to Cam while his knee practically touched hers was too much for Claire to handle. She wanted to scream with joy because she couldn't fathom why the hottie Cam Fisher was sitting with her while watching Kris train and... _bleh_. In reality, Claire cringed every time his skin made contact with her and each time she indiscreetly scooted away from him, he scooted right back beside her. It was as though there was a hidden magnet in the both of them that _made_ his knee touch hers every time, and she hated it.

"What's wrong?" Cam asked, a smirk playing on his lips. "I thought you'd be thrilled to see me, Claire."

"Well, you thought wrong, Cam. I don't even know why you're here as well. His being here is enough to torture me for the rest of this year."

"He?" Cam looked confused. "Who the _heck_ is he and why don't I know him?"

"You don't know him because I never mentioned him to you. Besides, he's already moved on so there's no point. I'm not even your girlfriend anymore, so I don't know why you should care about who 'he' is. Just keep calm; it's not like he's going to murder me or anything."

He frowned. "There's nothing wrong with me wanting to know about whether or not one of my friends is okay. Claire, are you feeling okay?"

"I was feeling better before today, to be honest. I have finals and then three people I had no intention of ever seeing again - no offense - show up _at the same time_. It's too much for me to handle." She sighed tiredly and then looked over to the field, yelling, "Kris, are you guys done yet?"

Kris turned to face her and gave her a huge grin, managing not to get hit by the spiraling ball heading her way. "We're almost done, but you can go back to the dorm room if you'd like to, Claire. I can only imagine how tired you must be after all that's happened today. Just leave Cam there; I'm sure he knows the basics of the school since his brother went here."

"Thank you so much, Kris." Claire stood up and smiled politely at Cam. "It's been a long day and I really need to rest. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?" _I sure hope I don't_.

"Of course. Good night, Claire." He also stood up and hugged her briefly before sitting back down, investing all his energy into watching how gracefully the players moved about the field.

After skipping down the bleacher steps, Claire smoothed out her dress and began the slow walk back to her dorm. The distance between her dorm and the Quad wasn't that long, but she loved taking walks; she had ever since she was little. Her mom used to take her on walks everywhere: along the pier, around the quay and over to the dress shops so that they could window-shop. She missed all of that. Sometimes, at college, she felt terribly homesick. If it wasn't for Kristen, she would have packed her bags and gone home immediately.

She was thinking so hard she didn't watch where she was headed and collided into somebody. "I am so sorry," she began. "I wasn't watching where I was going and..." Her voice died off once she stared into those unforgettable eyes. _Get a grip, Claire!_, she scolded herself. _He's moved on and so have you_.

"Claire?" Derrick asked in disbelief. There was a slight London hint in his accent. Kris was right. He had gone to England. "I didn't think that I would see you today. When I arrived, there was nobody I knew except for Massie, so I sat with her. But, man, is it good to see you! I've missed you so much."

He wrapped his arms around her and Claire felt just about ready to melt. _Oh, no, not today, sister. He's broken your heart once already. Don't let him do it again._ "That's enough," she said firmly, although her voice felt a bit shaky. "People are starting to stare and I don't want the rumour mill to be full of news about you and me when you've just arrived at the school."

Derrick released her and smiled sheepishly. "Where were you going before you knocked into me?"

"I was headed to my dorm room, which I share with someone else. It's been a hard day and I just want to rest. I'm sorry, Derrick, but maybe we can catch up another time?"

"No problem. Night, Claire."

* * *

"Derrick!" a feminine voice called. "Are you going to come?"

He looked at the speaker, a bit dazed. As his vision cleared, he realised her as Massie, his crush from his primary years. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're going shopping, silly!" His face fell immediately and she noticed it. "I'm just kidding. We're going to the Dean's office to discuss our schedules and our classes. He requested that all of us show up, so let's go." She linked her arm through his and led him to the office. Her eyes kept watch for that Claire girl, but she was already gone. Darn her. She wanted to show off that she was the one with Derrick now, and not the other way around. They weren't dating, but she liked to think they were. After all, he was a boy and she was the _ah-mazing_ Massie Block. Everything went her way.

That is to say, until she was hit in the head by a soccer ball, which was quite marvelous for the kicker because they weren't even _close_ to the field. A small giggle came out of nowhere as another blonde showed up, a grin on her face. Behind her was the red-haired girl that burped in front of campus and the new Spanish valedictorian. "I told you it would hit her," the redhead said evilly, a smirk on her face.

"Are you that powerful of a kicker?" the valedictorian asked the blonde girl. "Your name is Kristen, no?"

"My name is Kristen, and, yes, Alicia, I am that powerful." She smiled, making no attempt to help the girl on the floor.

Massie turned to Derrick, but he was too busy examining the ball to payher any mind. She got up by herself and galred at the two girls. "But... you... gah!"

"Oh Em Gee," the redhead said in glee, clapping her hands. "We knocked what was left of her brain right out."

"Good one, Dyl. Excuse me, I have to go retrieve my ball."

Dyl... That sounded oddly familiar. "Marvil?" Massie choked out.

Dylan grinned evilly. "In the flesh, Block. Welcome to my turf. Over here, we play by _my _rules. It's nice seeing you after all this time. And... I guess i's time to pay you back for all you did to me."

"You guys knew each other earlier?" Alicia asked.

"Yeah, we did," Dylan replied. "Let's go, Kris, we should go see if Claire's alright." Dyl and Claire weren't as close as Kris and Claire, but they were still close. "Bye, Mass. Hope you like your final year here. Welcome to Stanford."

She grinned again before heading down the path, Alicia by her side and Kris behind them, holding her ball. And Mass thought school before university had been hard... All she had to do was wait to see what Dylan had in store for her.

* * *

Not edited; no time to beta. Ooh, evil Dylan... I like :) thanks to **FanFicFanticGurl**, **AleAmaroBTR**, _Love it_ (Guest), _Fabulous_ (Guest) and **everlastingtrueromance**. You guys rock! Thanks for reading; stay tuned! And, yes, they were from Safe and Sound :)

Kellie.

_'All that you wanted, and all that you needed, was the side of me I never let you see. I wish I could love you and make you believe it. Cause that's all you ever wanted, that's all you ever wanted from me.'_


End file.
